Icarus
by cocoatd
Summary: A hot headed teen and her sister discover the truth when they stumble upon a philosopher's stone and a crazy guy's hideaway that leads them to an alternate world. Where alchemy and danger are very real. Now they need another stone to get home which leads them right to the Elrics. "Dammit why can't we ever go on normal vacations instead of gallivanting in devil caverns!"
1. That Damn Devil Cave

_**Chapter 1**_

Do you know the story of Icarus? The Greek legend of where he and his father attempted to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus's father warns him, asking that he fly neither too low nor too high, so the sea's dampness would not clog his wings or the sun's heat melt them. Icarus ignored his father's instructions not to fly too close to the sun, where upon the wax in his wings melted and he fell into the sea.

That is kind of like my story, even though it is nowhere near over yet, I got to arrogant and curious for my own good and now I'm the one falling.

 _ **Flashback**_

A short and muscular girl no older then sixteen with long dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, and a tan complexion was standing at the top of a circular opening in the earth. She was grinning manically while strapping herself into free climbing equipment. She dusted her hands with chalk and knocked her studded shoes off each other.

"Oh… this is going to be so fun, it would better to go solo though." She muttered to herself as she shot a glare to the tall, willowy, brunette younger girl beside her. Said girl huffed darkly.

"Don't make me push you off sister dearest." She muttered while she also tied herself up to a support anchor.

The older one laughed loudly and held up a section of heavy duty rope that tied them up together. "We'd be going together you know." They both laughed together and turned to one another. "A necessary sacrifice." They both said at the same time.

They smiled at each other. "Ma said that the locals' siting of these ruins and remains were on the eastern side, so that should be right underneath us." The older one said as she went over something in a notebook.

"Taylor why can't we ever go on normal summer breaks, like to the beach instead of exploring possible ancient remains in the Cradle of Life? I hate the African heat, man what a drag…" The younger sister complained depressed like.

"Well Steph there are multiple reasons, our parents are archeologists and I love this stuff. So being the youngest, which means in the family food chain, you get no say." Taylor said false-mockingly.

"Oh don't lie you ass, you love chemistry and biology much more then this ancient garbage." Steph sniped back as she dusted her hands with chalk.

"Oh shush let's get going so we can at least get back before noon. It's not that bad of a drop, maybe take an hour…" Taylor said dismissively as she set up a counter weight. Steph practically sweat dropped at this.

"Yo you need to go first because if you fall I'll be able to hold you up at least." Steph slowly set herself over the edge of the fissure. "Yeah, yeah oh strong one." She mumbled but didn't argue because it was true.

Taylor descended after her, crawling down like a monkey. It was a long and tedious climb down this awkward hole. And it did take about an hour, much to Taylor's smugness.

They caught site of the strange stone structure that the locals said that were nearby the suspicious bones. Sitting there underground in a cave looked like a stone house-like cube. It was perfectly square with no chisel marks or any indication it was made by even advanced humans let alone primitive. It had a doorway and strange windows.

Taylor lit up an additional lantern to add to her head light and inspected it closer. It wasn't that big just enough to fit half the cavern they entered, it fit one person and then some.

Stephanie shuffled awkwardly behind her and grabbed her sister's hand. "I don't think this is natural at all, I feel like we shouldn't be here Tay."

Taylor squeezed her hand and let go. "This is amazing! This house thing looks like it wasn't even crafted by human tools! So if you're uncomfortable you should stay here and wait because I'm going in"

"No way are you leaving me here alone you jerk, plus I kind of want to see inside." They nodded at one another and slowly approached the door. Inside looked strange, it looked like a… home? There were journals on a stone table with candles, a stone bookshelf with more stuff, and in the middle was a stone pedestal with something on it.

Taylor moved to look at the pedestal. Stephanie grabbed her and jerked her back sharply. "What the hell is this circle thing on the ground? It looks like a satanic ritual..."

There was a strange circle with things that looked like planetary symbols or something and the main circle crossed other circles, triangles, and an octagon. Taylor took out a notebook and drew it as best as she could and wrote down the strange words.

Stephanie looked appalled. "Did you write down that satanic stuff in your book? Do you want to go to hell? Because that's how you get cursed there."

Taylor gave her a dry look. "We are in the middle of Africa and heavens know how deep underground in a creepy shack and you're worried about the devil. This is creepy but not satanic. I don't know what this is." She looked back at the ground.

"Local climbers said there was strange stuff down here but man this is some next level shit right here." Taylor continued as she inspected around the circle more closely.

"We know it's not that ancient because the journals and stuff but this is really deep underground and discovered recently. Also how the hell did someone carve this freaking devil shack?" Stephanie exclaimed exasperated.

"This shack was defiantly not carved not with how smooth the stone is. I don't understand why the hell this is here but man I want to see the body those guys said they saw." Taylor crossed the room, going around the ritual thing and picked up one of the journals. She opened and skimmed through the pages quickly.

Steph watched her sisters face get more and more freaked out. "What the hell are you reading?" she asked afraid.

"This guy was a freaking nut job, He's going on about alchemy and some gate of truth and being stuck on the wrong side of it and something called human transmutation. Which, get a load of this, is said to bring people back to life. Also something about the philosopher's stone." She frowned hard. "These are all dated around the late 1800s. What the hell is this place?" She put the journal and all its few brethren from the desk into her bag and walked over to the bookshelf.

"Wait the philosopher's stone, like turn stuff to gold, elixir of life, Harry Potter kind?" Steph asked freaked out. Taylor shrugged and made a crazy gesture.

Taylor then picked up the big textbook from the bookshelf and blew dust off it. It read 'Fundamentals of Alchemy'. She raised an eyebrow and opened it to the first page and started to read. Stephanie joined her as she picked up another book. Time flew by until Taylor finished studying her text book deeply. Stephanie was almost done so Taylor left her to finish the book.

Taylor grabbed all the books that she found interesting and could fit, into her bag and then the rest into an extra one that she brought for situations like this; not that this was even remotely normal. The book shelf was now empty.

"Hey Steph," Steph hummed in acknowledgement. "Stay here and don't walk into the circle or anything, it has something to do with this crazy guy's alchemy stuff. I think it is a transmutation circle or whatever the book said alchemy needed." Taylor finished looking suspiciously at the now identified transmutation circle.

Taylor walked out of the strange stone shack and inspected it again. She walked around the cavern more focused and found more crazy circles all over the place. Some looked scratched out vigorously and were all drawn in chalk unlike the one inside which she concluded was probably blood.

Taylor checked her watch, which blared a carbon green 2:37 pm at her. She sighed softly, they'd been down here for hours but still had time.

She turned a corner of the cave and came to a stop quickly. There slumped on the ground was a skeleton, who still had some cartilage on it. The male it used to be was wearing very out of date clothing corresponding with the dates in the journal. Why did this skeleton still have cartilage if it's been here since the 1800s?

"Hey Steph I found our crazy guy!" She yelled loudly back in the direction of the hut. The skeleton was also sitting in a crazy transmutation circle clearly made of blood…

Steph rounded the corner quickly but wouldn't cross into the circle. "Taylor get out of the devil transmutation blood circle!" She said harshly. Taylor stood up and did a little dance in the middle of it.

"Steph chill out this alchemy stuff isn't real this guy was crazy and delusional." She said simply. She turned back and inspected the body. She found a tarnished silver pocket watch with a weird animal thing on it, some old chalk, another journal, and that this guy's left hand was some strange metal prosthetic hand.

She picked up the hand and the rest of the arm went with it and fell off the body. Taylor jumped up and away quickly as she screeched lightly. Stephanie was laughing behind her so Taylor gave her a dirty look.

She went back to the hand and inspected it. "Steph this is some insane metal work no way this was available in the 1800s. This body isn't fully decomposed of cartilage either." Taylor took more notes down in her notebook and roughly sketched the weird metal hand from different angles.

She pulled out a small screwdriver from her bag and started to detach the metal from bone. Once the hand was detached from the arm Taylor took it as she left the body.

Steph practically died. "Taylor you just stole some dead guys hand, you grave robbed!" Taylor waved the hand, which was heavy, in Steph's face freaking her out. "Isn't that all archeology is though?"

Taylor inspected the circle the guy was in and concluded it was the same, except messily, as the one inside. "I think he either starved or dehydrated to death." She stated flatly as she read through the journal she found on the body. "Which makes no sense because you die of dehydration in about three days and it would of taken a long time to make that shack however he did it." Taylor stated confused.

"Well do you think it was alchemy?" Stephanie asked sheepishly as Taylor gave her a dry look. "Here me out, you said there was no way that the shack was man or tool made right? And what I read about alchemy you with the reconstruction and deconstruction stuff with that equivalent exchange thing, might be a theory." Steph concluded.

"So basically that guy got here and did this from alchemy? I'll take that as a theory but it is highly improbable." Taylor concluded.

"Well those books talk about countries and stuff that don't exist and they should have rotted by now if it has been down here in this dank cave since the 1800s, maybe something did happen with that truth gate. Ohhhh maybe he came from another world and died here!" Steph exclaimed.

Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose and walked by her sister towards the house completely ignoring her. "That's crazy, let's check out that thing we left on the pedestal." Taylor and Steph traveled back into the hut and towards the pedestal with what was now seen as a warped red stone.

Steph hesitated going into the circle but followed anyway. "What the hell is this some cruddy red marble?" Taylor inspected it but never touched it because, even though it didn't show, this place was creeping her out but she was too curious for her own good.

"Maybe it's the philosopher's stone?" Steph offered meekly. Taylor nodded at her agreeing, the old resident of this crazy shack probably thought it was too. Whether or not it truly is, Taylor had her doubts.

She to out her notebook again and sketched the red marble gem… thing. She added a side note describing colour, size, shape, imperfections, and etcetera.

She then picked it up lightly and all hell broke loose. The circle came to life in a red light and Steph started screaming. Taylor wanted to drop the stone and run but went with her instincts and clutched the stone harder as she grabbed Steph's and harshly too.

She knew they couldn't get away from this as a big eye opened from circle on the ground. They were in the middle of it both terrified as this giant eye looked at them from bellow. Then it closed and this great black gate erupted in front of them with strange designs that Taylor recognized as some form of periodic table except much more in depth and branching into things she didn't understand.

She was in a terrified but awed state of it but the doors opened and it quickly changed to just pure terror. She held her sister's hand tighter and watched as the blackness inside the gate became corporal hands and eyes. Stephanie was crying heavily as Taylor was frozen as the hands started to drag her to the gate. Where the hands attached to disturbed children of darkness. The last thing Taylor remembered was her sister's screaming mixing with her own as they met the same fate and the sheer mind numbing pain.

Then the gate shut and they disappeared.


	2. That Damn Crazy Lady

_**Chapter 2**_

I blinked my eyes blearily as I awoke. It was so white wherever we were. I clenched my hands to feel the stone still with me as I tested my body. I sat up quickly and ignored the head rush as I looked for Stephanie. She was about two feet away and I crawled limply towards her.

I shook her gently imploring her to wake up in a weird croaky voice I could hardly recognize. She didn't stir but she was breathing so I wasn't as panicked as I could be. I glared harshly at her and shook her harder. "Wake up you idiot so you can tell me you were right about that crazy devil shack." I cried darkly with sardonic undertones.

"She's not going to wake up you know, not yet anyway." A strange voice called behind me. I turned sharply and stood in front of my sister as I looked at the strange thing in front of my door. It looked like a person but wasn't. It had no features and looked like only a wisp of a shadowed figure. They're voice was transcendent and I couldn't grasp it.

"What the hell is going on here, why won't she wake up?" I pleaded desperately as I stood, we were beyond anything at this point, and this being was the only thing here besides the gate which loomed tall behind me with only whiteness forever after.

"Ah, you should look at this as a good thing, you'll pay a smaller toll because she will not see." It said lightly as if this freaky hell was a joke. I quelled the tears that threatened to release themselves. I couldn't cry now, not in a moment so important and confusing.

"See what?" I asked fearfully as I eyed the being as they started to stand from where they sat. It grinned manically at me suddenly and I felt a feeling of cold fear seep into my already tired frame.

"The truth." It said in a warped voice as I heard the gate with the strange periodic table open up behind me.

I turned almost slowly praying to anything that it wasn't the Eye and its hands. I winced heavily as it was in fact what I feared.

"No, no, no, no, no, please I don't want this send us back. Send us back!" I screamed as they dragged me through the gate. Leaving behind Stephanie with the shadowed figure. I struggled screaming her name but she did not wake and the gate closed in front of me.

I flew through what could only be described as a stream of pure knowledge. It was like a tremendous amount of information was being directed straight into my brain. A brain which felt like it was melting. But I couldn't look away.

I saw things I couldn't dream about thinking up. I saw elements not discovered, the first cells, and the concept of alchemy. I saw… I saw the beginning of life. And it flashed by. I saw evolution, the cosmos, people, wars, discoveries, gods, the future, and the past.

"Stop, my head is going to explode!" I yelled but the images kept coming. "No I can't take it anymore stop!" I screamed as my body started to deconstruct. But I saw it.

I flowed by me much slower than anything else I was being forced to understand. The chemical make-up of… anything and everything came to me, and I understood. Our discoveries were so primitive to this… the element of our soul, what gives us life. What alchemy truly is.

This was the truth.

I watched my hands and legs disappear in chunks as my tears fell into this double helix of spiraling knowledge. I closed my eyes and looked away. I couldn't bear this knowledge anymore.

I opened them and I was no longer in the gate of truth but was once again in front of it with the figure and my sister.

I dropped heavily to my hands and knees as the philosopher's stone finally escaped my sweaty grip. It rolled awkwardly towards the being in front of me.

It picked it up with a grin and popped it into what I think is a mouth. It chewed it as red sparks flew out of its mouth. "Mhmm this is enough payment for your travels I think maybe a little too much so I'll explain more information to you. Philosopher's stones are very potent energy sources and are extremely hard to make." It said with a smile as it started its explanation.

"What the hell are you?" I gasped out of breath. Struggling to stand as I tried to understand all the new things I seem to now know.

"I have many names. Like the world, the universe, maybe god, or perhaps the truth. I am all and I am one which also means I am you. I am the truth of your accident. Finding one of my experimental travelers and his stone wasn't a mere coincidence you know I needed you to come here." It said off handily as if this dialogue was rehearsed.

I was speechless as I tried to understand. "You see this gate is a representation of how you see the world. Clearly you see things in it chemical and biological make-up. That's why your gate is inscribed with the elements that make all things and how they connect. This gate is what funnels energy, people take energy from your side of the gate to theirs and gives them the energy to preform alchemy. Which when you leave you should be able to too." It continued as it gestured to my periodic table inscribed gate. I was numb, I wasn't going home clearly. I was going to the other side of the gate that the alchemist we found wrote about.

"What about Stephanie? Why did you bring us here?" I asked quietly. I walked slowly over to Steph and picked her up softly in my arms.

"Really I only wanted you, the other was an opportunity I couldn't miss but you payed enough for both of you to cross, your sister will not remember crossing over the gate though or any knowledge. She will not be able to do alchemy. But I think it's time for our game to progress don't you think?" It smiled creepily. "I want you to win Taylor, you'll make the game much more fun."

The gate opened up behind me and pulled both of us through. The being, Truth, was waving enthusiastically at us as the great eye opened and the hands pulled us through. I screamed again as the hands tore passionately at me. "We didn't want to come you bastard, take us home!" I screamed as I lost conscience while the gate shut.

I wake up in a terrified blur as my sister is crying and shaking me while speaking in dreadful babbles. I rudely push her out of my face to get focused as I realize that the Truth wasn't a dream.

My sister is trying and failing to get my attention as I'm sucked into my own mind. We are on the wrong side of the gate. I can do alchemy now. I understand biology, alchemy, and chemistry deeper then thought possible. We can never get back home… _We can never get back home_.

How do I tell her what I saw? Would she even believe me? Would she… I was suddenly slapped harshly from the back of the head jerking me from my swallowing thoughts and onto the floor from the bed I was on.

"If you would get out of your own head you should realize we are in someone's freaking house. Could you please explain how we got from underground in Africa to the middle of some town in someone's house?" She chastised quietly.

I opened my mouth to speak but the door busted open to reveal a woman with the most frightening look on her face. She was tall, had braids, a strange tattoo, and a murderous look. "Yes please explain why I found both of you passed out in the middle of the street at the small hours of the morning in a crater." I watched as Steph visibly deflate like her soul was scared out of her by this woman. I scratched the back of my slightly bandaged head in embarrassment.

"Err miss you wouldn't even believe me if I told you." I didn't know how to explain… Pain exploded as I was kicked straight in the face and flew into the wall. "Holy Jeez." I exclaimed as I rubbed my nose.

Steph keeled away in shock and sprinted over to me. "I took care of you in my own home and you can't even tell my why you two children are alone." She turned into a demon as she looked to Steph for an answer.

"Ah she was passed out through most of our incident I'll explain." I got on my knees and put on my best smile despite my bloody nose. "But please teach me how to kick ass like that lady!" I swore there were sparkles floating around me as I turned on the cuteness.

She grabbed my ear roughly as she dragged me out of the room. "No I don't take students anymore, I'm a housewife not a sensei."

I winced as she dragged me down the stairs and stuffed me into the couch in their living room. Before I could say anything this big hulking brute of a man came through the door. He was like seven feet tall and all muscle… carrying a butcher's knife.

I quickly yelled up the stairs. "Steph save yourself he has a butcher's knife." I could hear thumping as my sister practically fell down the stairs and latched onto this guy's bicep. He didn't even struggle with her weight as he held her off the ground.

"Run Taylor he's distracted you're the first born anyway." She cried wiggling as she was suspended from the ground by her own merit.

I face palmed harshly at her idiocy. The lady looked highly amused by us which led me to relax a bit. The man plopped Steph onto the couch and went into the kitchen.

"We'll start with introductions now that everyone has settled down. I'm Izumi Curtis and that was my husband Sig, he's a butcher and I'm a housewife." She said with conviction while eyeing Stephanie.

Before I could speak Stephanie started. "I Stephanie Ahchor and this is my older sister Taylor and I have no idea where we are or how we got here." I put my head into my hands.

"Oh god Steph you dork." I started as I put my hand over her mouth. I looked at Izumi. "Izumi do you know anything about alchemy?" I asked quickly.

She nodded at me with a look in her eye. "Yes I am well versed." She stated while looking at me with calculating eyes.

"Then do you know about… The gate of truth?" I asked hesitantly. She suddenly sprung and uppercut me in the jaw as I flew over the back of my chair. I wasn't even mad I knew that was coming somehow.

"So you committed taboo then." She said neutrally. "No, no, no that's not it. Our story is very strange and I'm hoping you can keep an open mind and help me understand this mumbo jumbo." I stated while rubbing my bruised jaw. Stephanie looked just a confused as Izumi, I expected that.

"Alright start with the beginning you two." I nodded at her.

"Well our parents are archeologists, and we were studying with them in this place called Africa. It was said that it is where humanity began so we were there doing our cave thing. Our last exploration led us to this place far underground where Steph and I found this perfectly smooth stone hut with alchemy junk in it. At the time we didn't know what alchemy even was so we were confused. I read the person who lived there's journals and textbooks lightly and grasped the concept loosely. On the ground there was this strange transmutation circle, that I learned, and in the middle we found what the dead guy's journals claimed was a philosopher's stone." Izumi sharply inhaled but motioned me to continue.

I grabbed the small notebook and showed her the drawings I took. Her face hardened as she looked over them. "These are human transmutation circles. And this is an automail hand."

"Automail, what's that?" Stephanie asked. "It's a metal limb that can be attached and can be connected to nerves to move." My eyes widened widely at the idea. "Wow amazing, we don't have that!" I exclaimed as Izumi looked confused.

Stephanie motioned me to continue. "Oh yeah, we found the alchemists body after that farther down the cavern. He was in another human transmutation circle but much more sloppy. He had a fake hand, chalk, and a weird silver watch." Izumi nodded.

"That means you found the body of a state alchemist only they have those watches." She explained. "State Alchemist are dogs of the military, they do Fuhrer's dirty work." She explained darkly as Steph started to panic.

"Fuhrer as in like Hitler and Germany." She practically vibrating in her seat as Izumi looked confused. "Ignore her that's something from our home." I explained.

"We went back in the hut to explore and towards the circle to look at what we thought was something harmless. It wasn't after we picked up the stone the circle activated and we got pulled into the gate." I explained wincing at the memory of the pain of being deconstructed and Steph's screaming. Izumi suddenly looked sympathetic.

"Steph doesn't remember this because the Truth didn't let her wake up. It explained to me about the gate and why mine looked the way it did. It also sucked me through it." I visibly flinched as I remembered everything I saw.

"I saw… a lot of things. And it was very frightening and I'm glad I was the only one to see it. But Truth took the stone as payment after all was said and done and sent us to the other side of the gate saying that this isn't a coincidence. And now we are here." I finished waiting for a kick to the face. There was an awkward silence in the room.

"You are from another world on the other side of the gate." Izumi stated simply. Steph nodded apathetically and rubbed my back as I twitched nervously.

"Yeah we are." I stated lamely hoping she would at least take pity on us and think we were crazy.

"What is it like over there?" She asked still betraying no emotion. Steph immediately went prattling off about our home and its futuristic qualities. I stewed in my own emotions for a bit.

I started to think ahead on what I could possibly do to fix this. I seemed impossible; the truth wanted me to win a game and showed me how. But not what my new knowledge needed to be used for. Also if Izumi believed us and helped us how would we get another stone to go home? Truth said it was hard and it gave me a sinking feeling in my gut. We also had to find some way to make a living in this new world.

I quickly injected into the others conversation. "Izumi what country are we in and what year is it." I asked depressed.

"This country is Amestris and the year is 1914. It is also springtime." Izumi explained. "Do you think you traveled time as well as space when going through?" She questioned me as Stephanie went into lala-land about us being in alternate world war one era.

"Yeah we've gone almost one hundred years into the past if the date is right." I mumbled in shock not fully grasping the concept.

"Ah Taylor videogames and modern T.V don't exist anymore… My fandoms!" Steph started crying dramatically. I ignored her we could get over that there are many new things now to explore.

Izumi was silent for a moment. "I believe you." I did a double take at her. "Wha-" I was interrupted quickly. "And I only believe because I too have seen the gate and some of its knowledge so I'll help you understand it better so you can find a way home again." She finished.

I started tearing up at her exclamation and leapt and hugged her tightly. "Thank you so much, I just want to get us home. This means so much." I cried lightly. Izumi patted my back as Steph joined in the teary hug.

"But you must know my mentality in training alchemy is, to train the mind you must train the body." She stated and I looked up at her strange. I watched as Sig opened the door and I felt dread well up.

I felt a hand grip the back of my coat harshly. "Oh God." I uttered as Izumi whipped me out of the house as fast as she could and I rolled down the street harshly. I was about to get up when I felt something slam into me while screaming. Steph rolled over and we locked eyes as Izumi also leapt out the door. "Oh Shit." We muttered together.

I got my ass handed to me on a brutal platter.


End file.
